Whoops, forgot to mention that the leaves are firm, yet have those lines (GAH, can't think of a better description for them) running lengthwise along the leaf. I vaguely remember that being indicative of stress? Or lack of water?

Here's the pic.

I have a couple of Mini-Phals in similar situations, moss and plastic film pots with drainage inside ceramic decorative pots without drainage. The pots and roots are suspended above any collected water and they just love it!! I water every 5-7days or so, when the moss is dry to the touch. I never let the plants sit directly in any water. They get just the first hour or so of early AM sun and high indirect light from about 8:30 AM on thru the day. Hope this helps.

I agree with Jane, let it be in the spagh in the pot for now. In spring when there are new roots growing you can make the transition to bark much easier. If you feel it still stays too wet, you can pick some of the the spagh out from around the roots to let in some air to dry quicker.

Good luck,

Bob

All of my phals are in sphagnum and I repot them into that medium when they need repotting. Even the ones that came in bark. Depending on how tightly packed, where they are, and what kind of pot they're in, I water them anywhere from once every 3-4 days to once every 2 weeks. The right medium depends mostly on your watering habits and sphagnum suits mine. But the plants can make do in most of them as long as you're watering at least approximately appropriately. I'd follow Jane's advice.

Thanks so much for everyone's replies!

Unfortunately, I had removed the plastic film pot, but it's still in sphagnum. Will keep it like that until spring and keep monitoring progress.

Thanks again! :)

I think it is good you removed the tight clear pot, let it rest in your newly purchased orchid pot.

Here's a link to a discussion about the same thing we had @ 6 weeks ago.

Bob

Here is a link that might be useful: Orchids in tight spagh

Interesting post. I have always grown phals in pine bark. I learned that from an old nursery man who grew mostly orchids. I was always told not to repot when an orchid is in bloom. Not sure how valid that is now. This man had a nursery from the 60's til he died in the 80's.

Thanks for the link, Bob! I don't really have a place to hang the plant that would be appropriate for it, but it does offer me some perspective on dealing with these issues. I tend to overthink things when it comes to orchids. All my other plants get loads of benign neglect...but the orchids...I worry.

Incidentally, the roots of my plants almost exactly resembled the roots of the phal in the link when I took the pot off.

I am concerned about the leaves the more I look at them, so in my tradition of not leaving things well enough alone, I'll probably poke around a bit...

zackey, that's exactly what I learned too. Because it's relatively dry here (and sometimes, excruciatingly dry, like during recent heat waves), I'd prefer to have the plant in material with more air pockets that would tolerate more frequent watering. It's been a decade since I last had an orchid...I need to figure things out all over again.

i have to say the moss in that photo looks a little bit tortured. it's seen better days.

I realize that I have no idea what sphagnum in good shape should look like. Green vs. beige?

Can you put the plant in a pot with drainage?I wouldn't hang it. The outer part of the sphag will dry out too fast. I would put it in a plastic pot with drain holes and repot in Spring.

Zackey makes a good point. I do like growing Phals in 'small bark' and I still mix a little sphag and perlite in. Phals like their roots on the damp side. If your climate is dry, they will dry out. But sphag is good and I have many Phals growing very well in it. You just have to watch your watering and climate.

Just put your plant in a pot. Don't leave it hanging bare root if your environment is dry.

Jane

Thanks, Jane! I do have it in a pot, but it's a ceramic one with holes, which I put the plant into after removing the plastic film pot. It was possibly not the best choice, and is probably more ornamental that functional, although it does allow for better air circulation and drainage. Do you use clear plastic pots? I will admit, I loosened up a lot of the sphagnum the phal was originally planted in so that I could get a better look at its roots, and also removed the stuff that was really tightly packed around the roots. The striations in the leaves concern me, so I wanted to see what I was dealing with.

I realize that's a total newbie move (and I really am doing my best not to mess with the plant), but I don't have a good feel for how long it would take the sphagnum to dry out under my indoor conditions. I'm guessing that as things stand right now, with the roots more exposed, not terribly long.

I'm in luck now because it's become cooler (temps in the mid-70s during the day, 60s at night), which has also brought up the humidity (over the past 24 hours it's ranged between 40-50%, which is better than I expected). We only rarely heat during the winter, and then it's only a localized space heater, so I expect to have those humidity levels throughout the winter. At some points this past summer we were bone dry.

Jane, you mentioned two things in previous threads that were very useful to me. The first was how long you soak the medium (bark) prior to repotting (I believe you said a week?) and the other was a mention of a humidifier, which I might have to resort to in warmer months (we also don't have air conditioning here). Thanks for the info!

Rower girl- the green sphagnum stuff is usually algae but it's probably harmless. Sometimes there are spores that turn it green too.

Rowergirl, the leaves appear a bit dehydrated. They may or may not plump up, but I would leave the plant alone. I have grown many Phals and dends in ceramic pots. As long as they drain, I have no problem with that. Phals and the warm growing dends seem to like the moisture the ceramic gives vs the clay pot which dries out along the perimeter. Another good thing about ceramic is the roots can't really stick tightly to ceramic and makes it easier to repot with too much root damage.

Just my opinion, but I have a luck with Phals in tight sphag even though our temps are high as is humidity. I grow most in small bark, perlite and sphag. I do this because its less expensive and seems to give good results.

Don't over think. Threat your orchids like your other plants. Benign neglect is the way to go!

Good luck,
Jane

Thanks!

I am trying to be "benignly neglectful". ;) I had the good fortune of happening upon an orchid show put on by our local AOS chapter this past weekend, and hope to attend future meetings when I can. For now, I'm going to do my best to not mess with things. :)